COLLABORATORS

FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY
Edition #1, August 2014
COLLABORATORS

August 9, 2014
Q: How do you intend to make this happen?
A: Many years ago, I initiated a summer project called Tranz in
which we invited three contemporary dance groups to bring their initial
ideas to a nine day “dance crucible”. In Chennai, they interacted with
choreographers, costume and lighting designers, theatre directors,
musicians, composers and photographers. Their individual ideas
the Padme project invited Belgian/Dutch choreographer Kalpana
Raghuraman who is trained in Bharatanatyam and contemporary
dance and who ideated Padme in Europe two years ago with Dutch
dancers. The music and choreography have been licensed from Korzo
productions in The Hague but Kalpana has re-set and re-framed her
original concept onto the bodies of well-trained Bharatanatyam and
Odissi dancers from Bangalore.
Q: What is the objective of this project?
THE
CENTERING
ACT!
The nucleus of the Padme Project is Dr Anita Ratnam:
a Chennai-based dancer, choreographer, producer, arts
administrator, teacher, writer, and commentator. The
intends to coalesce together a group of dancers from across streams
and allow them an opportunity to learn, train, work and express
is the start of an ongoing journey where both the process and product
are equally important…
Q: You are the Artistic Director/Producer of Padme; but
Padme is more like a project, right? Tell us what projects like these
mean for the artistic community.
A: I was principal choreographer, performer and artistic director
of a 15 member dance ensemble for ten years between 1993 to
2003. Several successful productions and international tours later, I
realised that I was playing den mother, psychologist and hand holder
to dancers who were terribly insecure and unclear about their place
in the ecosystem of the arts. I disbanded the group and developed
my solo career, clarifying my own movement aesthetic that I have
called Neo Bharatam. Sans clutter of too many bodies and minds to
manage, I was able to observe the rapidly shifting sands of dance,
performance, presentation and patronage. As ideator and curator of
several international dance and academic events, I realised the lacunae
that existed in Indian dance. Beyond the guru-sishya paradigm, there
is little space for the independent and inquiring dancer to journey
with his/her art. Process and the creative inquiry is less acknowledged
small professional space where classical dancers can train in a truly
professional way with a choreographer, good rehearsal spaces,
costume lighting and a support system that acknowledges their artistic
choices.
A: The word professional is used too loosely in India. Dancers
have little concept of what it truly means to be a full-blooded
professional dancer. The Padme team came to rehearsal daily for each
session, spending eight hours in the studio and working relentlessly
with the material and retuning their minds to acknowledge themselves
as dancers and not “serious hobbyists”. My idea is really to enable
young dancers to think of themselves as dancers always. I have also
envisioned an array of aspects that are crucial to manufacturing fulltime
dancers. They are cross-training and as part of the mentoring
process, there is a great deal of exposure and experience that is
provided to them.
towards that vision. Tell us its genesis.
A: I’ve seen and known Kalpana, a dancer, choreographer from
the Netherlands, for a while now. I watched Padme many years ago
the idea of starting a project, Padme was top-of-mind recall. It also
worked because Kalpana is well-trained in Bharatanatyam and has
the exposure of the multi-cultural world of her home in Amsterdam.
It helps therefore that she understands the Bharatanatyam body and
uses this knowledge in her choreography and teaching. Kalpana
is very gentle with the dancers; she understands the conditioning
of Bharatanatyam and knows how to re-condition the body for a
contemporary piece without scaring off the learners.
Q: Did you also play a part in the re-imagining process of
Padme for this new set of dancers?
A: Not really. I believe it is very important not to interfere in
another choreographic vision. I’ve only given a few inputs whenever I
believed a certain movement wasn’t happening on a certain body. It’s
really her creation, in that sense.
Q: What sort of audiences do you have in mind for Padme?
A: Padme speaks to Urban India, a country of many born after
1980, for whom Starbucks means more than Saravana Bhavan or MTR
Foods. An India that is vibrant, impatient and breathlessly embracing
It can play in art galleries, in the outdoors, in parks, gardens, forests,
museums and shopping malls. However, it has been conceived as a
proscenium indoor auditorium venture that can beautifully represent
young India in dance festivals anywhere. It can speak to corporate,
shades of modern India.

August 9, 2014
A Cross-Continental Collaboration
Kalpana Raghuraman tells Team Aalaap how she re-imagined Padme for a new set of dancers trained in the
Indian classical form, and why the process was enriching
All these questions lead to interesting discussions. It became clear
to me that today’s younger generation has its own way of negotiating
life, its deeper meaning and as a result, finding their own place in the
larger picture
Padma, the lotus flower, is a familiar symbol in Hindu and
Buddhist faiths. The lotus grows with its roots in the mud through a
long stem from the water into the light. A better metaphor for human
development is hardly imaginable, the growth being a symbol of
spiritual awareness and enlightenment. So I discussed what this image
meant to the dancers, what aspects of their own spiritual practice it
touched and how it could inspire them to look at life in a different way.
When developing the concept of Padme, I was looking into
the role of spirituality and religion in the lives of today’s
youngsters. Are religious or spiritual practices part of their daily life
or something that they only refer or are referring to in dance? Is it a
family imposed activity that they execute obediently or does it actually
fuel them, give them inspiration and courage? Is there actually a place
for spirituality in today’s life and if yes, how?
When Dr Anita Ratnam asked me if I could set Padme to
classically trained dancers in India, I was immediately interested.
Providing a different way of creating a dance work, could be a very
inspiring and useful experience for many dancers who want to make it
their profession but cannot necessarily find their way or own voicein
the maze of what is India’s dance scene. I had invited dancers trained
in any Indian form to come to the workshop-audition. When creating
contemporary work, flexibility in mind and spirit is even more
important to me than flexibility in body. The group of Padme dancers
come from different dance backgrounds: Odissi, Bharatanatyam,
Kathakali and contemporary dance.Empowering them to step
into what they know and for us to work from there has been a very
interesting experience for all of them.
A: The piano is used in multiple ways - across genres and
styles and yet an aesthetic of my own, created exclusively for this
production. It will surprise, for sure.
Q: Let us understand your thought process in the possibility of
creating physical work from an abstract idea...
A:
workshopped, created, destroyed a few times, and created again. I
have my own idiosyncratic process like everyone else, and I’m fairly
methodical. I also tend to listen to a lot of music and a lot of sound and
then put myself into a quiet zone and strip away the complexity till I
arrive at something bare, surprising and simple.
Q: What was your brief for Float? How did it emerge?
Less is More!
contemporary pianist, says the music of Float will be
minimalist, and will surprise!
Q: Float, you say, is a study in contrasts, minimalism and
impressionism. Could you elaborate?
Float works on the premise that there are essentially two concepts to
music — sound and silence. Given the name, the music “floats”; it will
resonate with ideas, colours and visual poetry that will match Padme’s
choreography punctuated by moments of stillness and quiet. For me,
music works when it is simple, meditative and yet profound.
Q: Allow us an insight into how you have constructed the
music for Float? What can audiences expect?
A: It emerged, as it always does, over multiple conversations
with Anita (Ratnam), a friend and guide. It’s also, in a sense, a
looking at things from a distance, and yet being part of it all.
Q: How is it connected with or inspired from Padme?
A: Inspiration-wise, from the same source - personalized
narratives and abstract expressions taking a physical form. Musically
speaking, it is connected from the point of view of using pianistic
elements and creative exploration. Otherwise, different.
Q: You have collaborated with Anita before; you have also
worked with many classical dancers. Compare and contrast the
creative process of working with a classical dancer and a dancer
like Anita who has a style and vision of her own?
A: Each experience is rich in itself; people come with different
perspectives, experiences, pain and joy. To understand this from their
context, and use it to expand my own vision has been enriching.

A Collective!
Seven dancers from different genres (of dance), backgrounds and identities coalesced together for months to train and
present Padme... They share their experiences of being part of this project!
The concept of Padme,in many ways,has
been parallel to my own thinking and
exploration of dance. In the light of my new-
of the project, we were introduced to the lotus
Sukriti T
The lotus symbolises the union of the
four elements — water, earth, air and
by air, and it blooms through the power of the
all of us coming from different backgrounds,
are bringing in our unique energies to build
something special together. Kalpana (Akka) has a deep-rooted sense
of spirituality, through which she not only keeps us grounded but also
Ashwini Raghupathy
Padme has challenged my conditioning
costumes. As classical practitioners, we often
dance is ought to be! Padme has helped ease
open to newness and embrace change, rather
than be alarmed about it. The manner in which
Kalpana (Akka) gradually pushed us to realise our body and capacity
was organic and enjoyable. Anita (Akka’s) energy, enthusiasm and
attention to detail played an important role in the shaping of Padme.
Keerthana Ravi
The concept of Padme to me is as
beautiful as the lotus itself: the energy,
freshness and sense of sensuality that it radiates.
connect with the body and the energy around it.
Padme has been about learning, exploring a new
form and trying to connect with the body in a
Meenakshi
Edited and Produced by Aalaap
Printed and Published by Rathna Offset Printers, Chennai
August 9, 2014
Padme is constituted in four parts;
the other in style. The music for Padme is a
combination of instruments, both slow and
and subtle manner. Padme is an exploration of an entirely new look
in dance.
Meghna Venkat
P
my contemporary dance with Anita Ratnam,
able to connect with the concept of Padme
of the dancers brought in a different energy
Vandana and Ashwini; I put good use of my experience in
and sequences.
Sabyasachi Mukherjee
Padme denotes beauty, fertility,
prosperity, spirituality and eternity
to me. The experience of Padme is unique
opportunity to be a better dancer and acquire
new techniques in dance. The concept is so
to connect with it, thus bringing us closer to
each other.
in ways that were unknown to my body. Kalpana (Akka) has taught
me not only to be unique in my dance but also in sync with the others
from each dancer, something about dance; to be free and let my
The training has not only been enjoyable
but also an experimental ground for me to explore dance beyond my
limits; it is the most joyful feeling of experiencing something new
Vandana Supriya